Veg for small gardens
Don Mapp grows 75 different types of fruit, vegetables and herbs in his East London garden that measures just 6 x 4.5m (20 x 15ft). He uses every possible space, including in pots on top of his bay window and trained up the facade of his semi-detatched home.
He opens his garden for the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) every Sunday from 17 July to 7 August, 11am - 6pm.
Here are his five top veg for pots
'Kelvedon Wonder' pea is a quick, reliable and heavy cropper which and can be repeatedly planted throughout the year. Stake it, or let it droop over pots. The taste is great even when left too long before picking. The peas can also be treated as mangetout or sugar peas and picked as you pass by or tend to the crop.
'Cobra' climbing French bean is an Award of Garden Merit (AGM) vegetable, can be successively planted from April to June. It crops heavily, with exceptional quality beans that remain tender even when they're allowed to grow large. The taste is also great. With its lovely violet flowers it is beautiful enough when staked or hanging from the pot for any flower garden.
The small yellow plum tomato is one of the best tasting tomatoes I have grown. Depending on position and weather it matures in about 80 days, Each truss is prolific, almost resistant to disease and splitting and crops until frost.
Sweet Romano peppers are great and will fruit in the smallest of pots, but planted in a pot 20-25cm (8-10in), it will produce an abundance of fruits. There are yellow or red varieties which can be picked green in order to encourage the plant to produce more. They can be stuffed, kebabed, grilled, pickled or used in salads.
'Telepathy' cucumber produces fruits about 30-40cm (12-16in) long. I once had eight from one plant. They taste better than those in supermarkets. Most people think you need a glasshouse to grow cucumbers, but you don't. They do like heat, so make sure you put them in a sunny spot outdoors.